Hi! My name is Emily, and I am a Guide Dog Puppy Raiser for Guide Dogs For The Blind! I am raising my second puppy, a male yellow lab named Keith!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Allergies and Adventures

Well, since I haven't posted in awhile, I am going to do separate posts, so I don't have one huge post. First things first, Keith update.

Probably the biggest thing that has happened with Keith lately is that he had a major allergic reaction to something unknown. On Sunday (Mothers Day), Keith and I went to the grocery store to get my mom some flowers and a card. We didn't go anywhere else that day, not even a walk. Around 12pm, I notices a few bumps on his head. I texted my leader and told her that Keith looked like he was getting hives. She said to watch him and let her know if he gets worse. At 1pm there were a few more bumps, but he seemed normal otherwise. I left home to go to a BBQ at my Uncles house, and my mom stayed home to watch Keith. 3 hours later, she texted me saying Keith was a lot worse and to get home right away. I raced home, and was greeted by a foreign looking dog. Keiths face had swelled up so badly that he looked like a totally different dog. His eyes were swelled shut, his cheeks were huge, and his nose was the size of a baseball. I frantically called my leader and she instructed me to take Keith to the Emergency vet right away. So, I loaded Keith into the car and raced there (probably breaking a few speed limits and running a few lights on the way...) Oh, and this was all at 10pm Sunday night I might add. They took Keith in the back right away and gave him a steroid shot and a benadryl shot. They told me to leave him there for a few hours to make sure the reaction didn't get worse. I left for 2 hours, and came back at midnight. Keith had responded well to the shots, and I could take him home. I was so incredibly relieved! But, the next morning, I took him out of his crate, and the swelling was back :( We took him to our regular Vet, and he gave him another steroid shot and some prednisone tablets. We still aren't sure what caused it, but whatever it is, Keith is HIGHLY allergic to it. Glad to say he has been healthy and happy since then!

My poor swollen boy :(

Over the rest of the week, Keith took it pretty easy. The medication was making him want to drink a ton of water, so he was having some accidents. He did go to the movies and a puppy meeting, and had a few playdates with another puppy in training.

This past weekend was a very fun and busy weekend for both Keith and I! On Friday evening, Keith and I went up to the mountains to have dinner with my grandmother. Keith did extremely well. He had to sit in a very cramped place, and he was a trooper. On Saturday, Keith and I went to the Relay for Life with my mom. It was such a good experience for Keith. Lots of noise, people, and smells, and he did wonderful. EVERYONE wanted to pet him there!

Keith at Relay for Life

This is what Keith walked for :)

Later on Saturday, Keith and I joined our puppy club at a Fire station for a Girl Scout Doggy Day! 3 local girl scouts put on this event for us to earn their silver award. They had all sorts of distractions and fun things for the dogs, and Keith did very well and had so much fun!

On Sunday, Keith and I got up bright and early at 4:30 A.M. to go with my mom to a half marathon an hour away. This race was in honor of a runner who died from cancer. It was called "Randy's Run", and all the runner wore orange hats, shirts, and ribbons in honor of Randy, as that is the color he always wore. We were there until about 11:45 A.M., and Keith did so awesome! We walked around and then patiently waited at the finish line for all the runners to come in.

Keith at the Start line

Just waiting around :)

Waiting in the car for awhile...

We don't really have any adventures planned for this week, so we will see what happens!